Clay Buchholz focused on mental game, not spring results in 2010

FT. MYERS, Fla.- Last spring training Clay Buchholz was worried about making the Red Sox rotation, which meant worrying about something that baseball people will tell you doesn’t matter: spring training statistics.

This spring, with a spot in the rotation safely in his grasp, the 25-year-old can focus on improving his game without worrying about what the numbers have to say, something he’s grown to appreciate over the past six weeks.

“They told me that they thought I’ve earned the right to go in and pitch and open the season with the team,” Buchholz said. “I’m going to take it like they said it and just go out and do my job.”

APWith a spot in the 2010 rotation locked down, Clay Buchholz has used this spring to focus on his mental gameThe one thing that both Buchholz and the team agree that most often gets in his way is his own thoughts. Buchholz has a tendency to get caught up in previous bad pitches he threw and lose focus on what’s most important: the next pitch.

“When I get trouble I start thinking about the pitch I just threw,” he said. “You want to keep a short memory because you can make a bad pitch and then make a worse pitch and give up a two-run home run.”

Buchholz’s outings very often seem to be a microcosm of his career thus far: very much up and down. After bursting on the scene in September of 2007 by throwing a no-hitter in only his second Major League start, Buchholz struggled mightily in 2008, floundering to a 2-9 record and a 6.75 ERA in 15 starts.

In 2009, he stayed in AAA Pawtucket until mid-July, dominating to the point that the Red Sox had virtually no choice but to bring him up to Boston. He initially struggled but then put together a six-start stretch in late August and early September that saw him go 5-0 with a microscopic 1.32 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 41 innings.

Manager Terry Francona feels that the bad outings are a result of the negative thinking that has been a problem for the young pitcher all along.

“When he just attacks the strike zone, things usually have a way of working out without having to think about 50 different things,” Francona said. “If he simplifies it, his stuff is so good that the results take care of themselves.”

Catcher Victor Martinez said that Buchholz is working hard to improve his mental game and that he has seen significant progress this spring.

Victor Martinez, right, is happy to be catching Buchholz instead of facing him. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)“I always try to make him comfortable on the mound and then let me do the rest,” Martinez said. “I think he’s been doing a great job staying within himself and relaxing a little more.”

Though Martinez never faced Buchholz when the catcher was with the Indians, based on what he’s seen so far he seems glad to be behind the plate when the right-hander is on the mound rather than in the batter’s box.